PORTAND, Oregon. –
A self-published love novelist who once wrote an online essay called “How to Kill Your Husband” was sentenced to life in prison on Monday with the possibility of parole for killing her husband at his workplace in Portland four years ago.
Nancy Crampton Brophy, 71, was convicted of second-degree murder on May 25 after a seven-week trial. Her sentence on Monday includes the possibility of parole after 25 years in prison, KGW-TV reported on Monday.
Prosecutors said Crampton Brophy fatally shot Dan Brophy, 63, at the now-closed Oregon Culinary Institute, where he worked in 2018, because she wanted to profit financially from his life insurance payments. The case attracted national attention because of an essay written by Crampton Brophy years earlier, but the piece was not allowed as evidence in the trial.
Prosecutors told jurors that the couple faced financial difficulties at the time of the murder and said they researched and bought a “ghost gun” kit online and then later bought a Glock 17 gun at a gun show.
Crampton’s lawyer Brophy claims that the state’s evidence is circumstantial, disputes allegations of financial problems and attracts witnesses who testify to the couple’s strong and loving relationship. Crampton Brophy also took the position, saying she and her husband had purchased life insurance policies as part of their retirement planning and had a plan to reduce their debt.
She also said that her research on ghost weapons is in preparation for a future novel.
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